The Management, Spirituality and Religion (MSR) Division warmly invites proposals for Professional Development Workshops (PDWs) to be held as part of the 86th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2026) in Philadelphia, USA, from July 31 to August 4, 2026.
PDWs offer a unique opportunity to engage AOM members in interactive, developmental, and often experimental sessions designed to share insights, build scholarly networks, and foster innovative practices. As a global community committed to exploring the intersection of management, spirituality, and religion, MSR affirms its dedication to developmental, creative, transformative, and cutting-edge PDWs that critically and constructively extend our interdisciplinary agenda and impact organizations and society at large.
What are we looking for?
We invite PDW proposals that are developmental, inclusive, and thought-provoking, especially those that:
● Advance discourse on knowing 'beyond' rational knowing, including phenomena such as the sacred, the transcendent, the immanent, the unknown, and ultimate reality in relation to management theory and practice.
● Share indigenous, cultural, or contemplative traditions and practices for dealing with the unknown, the transcendent, the immanent, the ultimate reality, and the sacred as sources of wisdom and inspiration for leadership, decision-making, and management practices.
● Challenge or reframe current ontological and epistemological assumptions of spirituality and religiosity impacting research in the discipline of management.
● Encourage transformative pedagogies, inner development goals, and contemplative practices that shape how we teach, research, and engage with spirituality and religiosity to impact management practices.
● Explore MSR's role in societal and organizational transformation, including implications for ethics, sustainability, and inclusion, and the link between spirituality and inner development goals for enriching management practices.
Important dates
● Proposal deadline: Tuesday, 13 January 2026, 17:00 ET (UTC-5)
● PDWs scheduled for: Friday, 31 July to Sunday, 2 August 2026
All proposals must be submitted via the AOM Submission Center when the system opens. More information on https://submit.aom.org/
Best MSR PDW Prize
Every year, the MSR PDW Chair honors the most exceptional Professional Development Workshop for
its creativity, impact, and contribution to the MSR community.
Submit and Connect
For inquiries contact, AOM 2026 PDW Program Chair:
Prof. Sharda Nandram, Full professor Business and Spirituality at the Nyenrode Business University and Full professor Hindu Spirituality and Society at the Vrije University (VU) Amsterdam, VU Chief Diversity Officer. Email: s.nandram@nyenrode.nl / s.s2.nandram@vu.nl
We look forward to receiving your proposals and co-creating a transformative, inclusive, and engaging PDW program for AOM 2026 in Philadelphia!
For further details see the AOM submission guidelines
https://www.aom.org/events/annual-meeting/submitting/submission-guidelines/
------------------------------
Warm Regards,
Vineet Arora
Joint Ph.D. Candidate, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India and La Trobe University, Australia
Teaching Assistant, IIT Kanpur, India
------------------------------